{"id":10601,"date":"2024-04-15T16:27:19","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T15:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=10601"},"modified":"2024-04-15T16:27:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T15:27:22","slug":"aerial-salad-explore-new-ground-with-third-album-r-o-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=10601","title":{"rendered":"Aerial Salad explore new ground with third album R.O.I."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ALBUM REVIEW: Aerial Salad – R.O.I. (Venn Records)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Manchester trio Aerial Salad<\/strong> are back with their third album, and their first in four years, and it sees them dipping a toe into fresh waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamie Munro (vocals\/guitar), Mike Wimbleton (vocals\/bass) and Mike Marshall (drums) got together in 2016, and made their name in the DIY punk scene as a raw band singing brash songs full of pent-up youthful frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They made their recorded debut with 2017’s excellent album Roach <\/em>and followed it in 2020 with Dirt Mall <\/em>(reviewed here<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Aerial Salad. Pic by Liam Maxwell.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The pandemic cost them much of the momentum they’d been building, but they’re older and wiser now, and R.O.I. <\/em>shows them exploring different directions, and coming up with a 13-track slice of what they call ‘Madchester Punk’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things kick off with Rotting And Shaking<\/em>, based around a jagged guitar riff and a hypnotic bassline, and it’s not long before Jamie lets loose with those familiar rasping vocals. So far so good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first suggestion things might be heading in a different direction is the funky Same 24 Hours (As Beyonce)<\/em>, a previous single which sees them venture into baggy territory, clearly influenced by the late ’80s sound of hometown heroes Happy Mondays.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Aerial Salad. Pic by Liam Maxwell.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tied To Pieces Of Paper<\/em>, based around a repetitive bass line, is about the frustration of trying to hold down a day job while keeping the creative aspects of being in a band going. The sound is more akin to fellow Mancs The Fall, with Jamie barking out lyrics Mark E.Smith-style, before it all gets a bit frenzied in the breakdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MDRN LVN<\/em> is a big-riffing number which leans more toward heavy metal, but the standout track is They All Lied To Me<\/em>, full of huge riffs, a thunderous rhythm section, and an impressive vocal performance, which sees the repeated mantra “everything’s not okay” give way to a larynx-shredding howl of “they all lied to me”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big Business<\/em> explores the notion that money is destroying entertainment. Powered by a funky riff and syncopated rhythms, it ends up asking “does it have to be like this?” I think we sadly know the answer to that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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